Many stores belong to a chain of stores, whether they are owned by a single entity or whether they are franchised stores. By chain of stores or entity chain, it is meant that two or more geographic entities (such as business entities each having a physical location) that share one or more common features, such as brand, a common customer experience, including at least some overlap in regard to the nature of their commerce. While some business chains are well known, e.g., Walmart®, Costco®, and REI®, a substantial majority of business chains are not well known.
For a search engine, understanding whether a particular local store is part of a chain of stores is a difficult process. Indeed, simply assuming that two entities with a similar name are part of an entity chain can, and often does, lead to erroneous results since two separate geographic entities (typically in different geographic locations) can share the same name and be unrelated.
In spite of the difficulty a search engine might have, when a person is searching for online for local information regarding a geographic entity, e.g., a particular store, and in particular one that is part of a chain of entities, it is important that the search engine recognizes that the entity/store is part of a chain and provides a search results page with a consistent user interface irrespective of which of the chain's individual geographic entities is sought.